Megadeth Perform ‘The Conjuring’ for the First Time in 17 Years

Fans at the Home Monitoring Aréna in Plzeň, Czech Republic got quite the surprise Tuesday night (June 12) when Megadeth broke out "The Conjuring" live for the first time in 17 years. And it wasn't just a one off, as the band played it again the following night (June 13) in Katowice, Poland at Spodek, fan-filmed video of which can be viewed above. While quality footage of the initial performance of the song has yet to surface, what exists so far can be seen below.

Back in 2011, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine spoke about his decision not to play the song live, telling Total Guitar that his involvement with the occult - the main theme of "The Conjuring" - was to blame for all the bad things that happened to him in life.

"When I got into black magic I put a couple of spells on people when I was a teenager and it haunted me forever, and I've had so much torment," he said. "People say, 'Goddamn, Dave never gets a break, he's had such a hard life,' and I just think, 'No, Dave didn't - he got into black magic and it ruined his life'. It wasn't that I was a bad guy or that I had a big mouth, it was that I got into witchcraft and black magic and it ruined my life. Fortunately for me, with all the work and the love of my friends, and not giving up with my guitar playing, I got over it. So I look back now and I think, 'Hmm, I don't wanna play 'The Conjuring'.''

"Performance wise, 'The Conjuring' is one of the heaviest songs on [Peace Sells], but unfortunately it's got black magic in it and I promised that I wouldn't play it any more, because there's a lot of instructions for hexes in that song," he said. "Although it seems kinda corny, anybody who's a Wiccan or a warlock or anything like that will know that all of that stuff is instrumental."

Mustaine softened his stance in recent years on the song, revealing in 2016 that then-drummer Chris Adler even suggested re-recording the track with a different set of lyrics.

"I was, like, 'Nah. You know what? Maybe I should re-think this whole thing.' Because when I first did the whole, 'You know what? I'm not gonna be a heathen anymore. I'm gonna clean up my life' thing, I kind of put some brakes on things I would and wouldn't do," he said. "And as I grow, I evolve in my outlook and my personal journey here, being a positive person and being a positive influence on other people's lives. So as long as it doesn't hurt anybody, I wouldn't mind doing the song again, 'cause it is a good song."

Megadeth is currently on tour in Europe where they are opening for Judas Priest and performing at festival dates. The next show is tonight at the Nova Rock Festival in Vienna, Austria. The full list of gigs can be found at this location.